The Land of Heaven
by GoldenDragonClouds
Summary: Tenten is not the orphaned girl everyone thinks she is. She actually hails from the legendary Ryogakure of the Land of Heaven. Now that her past has caught up to her, what will she do? NejiTen, ShikaTema. Shippuden. Rewrite of Heaven Country.
1. Ghost of the Past

**The Land of Heaven  
**(A **Heaven Country **rewrite)**  
By: **GoldenDragonClouds

**Chapter 1: Ghost of the Past**

Summary: Tenten is not the orphaned girl everyone thinks she is. She's actually from a prestigious clan, and hails from the legendary Ryogakure of the Land of Heaven. She ran away because her father wouldn't let her become a ninja, as was the clan rules with women. Now her best friend from Ryogakure has come to get her after eleven years, and she has no choice but to go back. What will her friends think? Will she reveal her secret at all? Takes place in Shippuden, before Jiraiya goes off and dies. NejiTen, ShikaTema.

Disclaimer: Don't own.

* * *

"Soshoryu!" A brunette girl with her hair in two buns shouted as she jumped into the air, twin scrolls twisting around her.

"Kaiten!" A dark-haired boy shouted in response.

The brunette soon started throwing various weapons towards her partner, who deflected all that was rained down on him. Kunai and shuriken ricocheted off the sphere of chakra that formed as he turned, and studded the training grounds, spewing up dirt and grass as they did so.

When the girl had landed the boy abruptly stopped spinning, and both of them slid into their respective martial arts stances; the strong fist and the gentle. The two styles were not meant to fight with each other, and in this situation the gentle fist would most definitely win. But the brunette quickly unsealed a pair of kunai that would help her deflect her partner's strikes towards her chakra points...

Not that it worked too effectively. Having felt more than a few of her chakra points close up, she jumped out of her partner's reach to take out another scroll. It held another arsenal, and she let it loose in a barrage of weapons that again, merely bounced off of his defense.

"Ach!" The girl ticked her tongue, taking out yet another scroll. She glared at the boy, who only smirked at her.

"What's wrong? Come on, you can do better than that!" He taunted her as she bit her thumb to unseal one of her favorite weapons, a katana. He then backpedaled when the girl looked up at him to smile.

"Come at me, Neji."

* * *

Their sparring went on for a while longer until both boy and girl were panting heavily, clutching their sides. It was near sundown, and the training field had several large, circular holes on the ground, various weapons scattered around everywhere.

"Good spar today, Tenten. You aimed at a lot of my weaker points and nearly got me. I'll have to work on that." Neji said, brushing dirt off of his pristine white shirt.

"I still can't land a good hit on you though." Tenten frowned at her sparring parner. Neji only smirked at her.

"That's the difference between a jonin and a..." he was cut off by a shout that sounded across the village.

"WHAT?!"

It was the Hokage's voice. Tenten raised her eyebrows up to her hairline but Neji only smirked once more.

"She probably just lost another bet."

This time, Tenten laughed as well.

"At this rate our economy's gonna go down badly! Now come on, unseal my chakra points."

* * *

After a short period of prodding, jabbing, and incessant jabber from Tenten, the two teenage ninja fell into a comfortable silence, sitting down on the sparse grass with Tenten's weapons scattered all around them.

Tenten opened her mouth to ask a question. "Neji, don't you think..."

"Think what?" Neji half-turned to her, absent-mindedly moving a tanto blade that had been pressed against his shoulder.

"Well..." Tenten was interrupted by their teammate Lee's arrival.

"Tenten! Our youthful flower! Hello, Neji!" Tenten groaned and Neji frowned.

"What now Lee?" Lee obviously didn't notice the exasperation in Tenten's voice.

"All kunoichi of our age are being called to Hokage's office! Tsunade-sama must be lecturing them on the youthfulness of beautiful flowers!"

Tears were streaming down from his wide eyes. Neji and Tenten glanced at each other before standing up to stretch. Tenten unfurled her scrolls and laid them down on the ground, forming a few seals to seal all the weapons around the area into them. She pocketed the small ones, tucked the elaborately embossed twin scrolls into holsters, and hung the largest from her back. When she was done, she looked up to see Lee and Neji arguing, yet again, on the fairness of their previous match. Not that Neji was saying much.

"Lets go." Lee stopped his rambling and Neji looked rather relieved.

* * *

The three roof-hopped towards the Hokage Mansion, where Shizune greeted them at the door of the second floor.

"Neji, Lee, you may go now." Shizune said to them, "Tsunade-sama only wishes to see the kunoichi."

Lee reacted right away with a, "Yes of course!" and turned to go. Tenten turned to Neji.

"Come on, you know you don't want Lee to get in trouble. Now shoo." Neji raised an eyebrow before consenting to turn away to go follow Lee. His strides turned into a run when the three of them heard crashes at the bottom of the stairs.

Tenten flinched but stopped Shizune from running down as well. "This happens often," she explained, and entered the hallway to join a few other kunoichi in waiting to be permitted to enter the Hokage's office. She spotted Temari of the Sand, here for a few diplomatic matters, and went over to talk to her.

"You were called here as well?" Tenten asked when Temari noticed her.

"No idea why, so don't ask." Temari rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders, pausing for a bit to adjust the weight of her iron fan on her back.

The two kunoichi leaned against the curved wall to look around them. Most of the other kunoichi were fidgeting, twirling kunai, or reading.

Soon afterwards, Sakura, Ino, and Hinata arrived as well, joining Tenten and Temari in their little area of the hallway.

It was not until a while later that, Shizune nodded at the number present and ushered them into the office. She was, however, a bit pale.

"Tsunade-sama's in a bit of a bad mood right now..." The rest of the kunoichi shuddered.

They all filed in to find Tsunade shouting at a black-haired girl. This stranger had a golden gleam to her skin and wore moderate clothes. Her left arm was covered in bandages and she wore slightly heeled ninja sandals. From the back, the kunoichi entering the room could see that her hair was quite long, as it it reached her waist even when tied up. And she was shouting at the Hokage, something no one in their village would have ever dared to do.

"Why won't you believe me?" she was demanding. Her voice held a light foreign accent. It was slightly Eastern, yet still held a Northern lilt to it. Tenten stiffened. She could recognize that accent anywhere...

The black-haired girl was still shouting at the Hokage. "Don't you see this forehead protector? She thrust the said object at Tsunade's face. The Hokage scowled in response.

"Well, it's just that your village hasn't been heard of since the First Great Shinobi World War. We always believed that your village was, well, extinct. If you can prove that there is, like you said, another that knows of your village among these kunoichi summoned, I may be able to believe you. But if not..." Tsunade trailed her statement, glaring up at the girl, who then threw back her head to turn away from the Hokage. This gave the kunoichi assembled a better view of her.

The foreigner's shirt had two very distinct symbols on it, one that read "metal" and was printed on her shirt as if a clan symbol, and one that read "king" and fastened on her shirt on a diamond-shaped badge. Her narrowed eyes, accented by a black pencil lining, were colored a chocolate brown and her lips were full and red. She took the protector back and proceeded to tie it around her forehead.

Tenten's eyes went wide and she gave a small gasp, unconsciously grabbing hold of Temari's sleeve as she did so. Temari frowned, turning her head to look at the bun-haired girl, but Tenten didn't notice the stare.

The symbol engraved on the metal plate was the one that formed both syllables of her name. The hairstyle itself had been a dead giveaway to who the person was, but the clan symbol on the girl's shirt, the chocolate brown eyes, they all solidified her suspicions.

"I assure you, Hokage-sama, that there is a kunoichi in that age range that knows of our village's existence." The girl was saying, having turned towards Tsunade again. Tenten swallowed. Her coming to Konoha was not good news, but... She had to make sure it was really who she thought it was in the first place. Tenten licked her parched lips before uttering out her friend's name.

"J...Jin.... Cai?"

The black-haired girl froze in mid-speech. Soon there were about twenty pairs of eyes on Tenten as the black-haired girl slowly turned her head to look at her. Silence fell on the room like a stone.

"Jin-cai? It's um... me, Tenten." Jin-cai locked eyes with Tenten, then swiftly raked her stare up and down, as if trying to determine if she was the right person. Tenten swallowed, and cleared her throat. Hopefully she hadn't lost her accent...

"Ta... tamen buzhidao." She said quickly. They don't know. Jin-cai visibly relaxed.

"A, shi nin a'r." Ah, it is you, in her native language. Then, as if remembering where they were, "So it is you." A pause. "Tianten." The look in her eyes made it apparent to Tenten that the pronunciation had not been a mistake. Something was up in her home country. And besides, Jin-cai never made mistakes. This exchange of foreign words did not bypass the assembled kunoichi's attention.

Tsunade interrupted the silence. "Care to explain further, Tenten?"

"I met Jin-cai on a mission once, but didn't include it in the report because she said that her country didn't want unneeded attention. Never met her again, until now." Tenten said, not taking her eyes away from Jin-cai's. She gestured with her eyes for Jin-cai to say something as well.

"It was... Tea Country, I think." She gave a small smirk. "I told you there was someone here that knew of our existence."

"Alright, so you can explain your mission request now. Everyone else, sorry for the trouble. You can go now... but Tenten, stay. You'll have to stay to really confirm... Jin-cai's... status."

"Of course, Tsunade-sama." Tenten licked her lips and bit the lower, glancing at the kunoichi slowly leaving from the room. She soon moved to grab Temari's arm.

"Stay." she said softly, "It would be... helpful... for Sunagakure... as well."

Temari looked rather unsure, but stayed anyway. Who was she to distrust her best friend in Konoha? The two had grown quite close after a mission of Tenten's related to Gaara's ascension to the post of Kazekage, not to mention the Konoha shinobi's rescue of Gaara from the Akatsuki a few months back.

* * *

A silence befell the room, and Tenten kept sending furtive glances across the floor as Jin-cai looked as if preparing herself for a long explanation. Temari and Shizune just stood and watched as Tsunade became more and more fed up about the situation. But just when the Hokage opened her mouth to demand an explanation, the foreign girl threw herself at Tenten, embracing her tightly.

Tenten only stood helplessly, sighing and resting her head against Jin-cai's shoulder. A lone tear ran down her face. "I thought I'd never see you again."

Shizune blinked at the girl, who was taller than Tenten. She had expected Tenten to have pushed the girl off with a force equal to like she did with Lee and Gai so often. But this time, no movement. Just a single tear.

"Wo ye xiangnian'r nin'r." Jin-cai said, her voice muffled by Tenten's hair. I missed you as well.

Tsunade cleared her throat. "Care to explain further?" She asked again.

Tenten looked at her idol, but frowned. "I would be willing to, but Jin-cai... get off me, Jin-cai."

The elder girl only grinned.

"Jin-cai. Off. Now." Temari smiled. Now there was the Tenten she knew. "I'll have to beat you up if you don't. Get off, now." Temari then frowned. There was a sternness in Tenten's voice that was not usually present.

"Danshi, Tian-tian'r gongzhu!" The elder girl's whines were obviously staged, but the other three kunoichi in the room frowned, not being able to understand the strange language the foreigner was speaking in.

"Jin-cai! Tamen buzhidao zhei bushi wode guojia. Wo bu gaoshi tamen." They don't know that this isn't my country. I didn't tell them. Tenten paused to switch to the standard shinobi language. "The Third knew."

"Sarutobi-sensei knew what?" Tsunade asked, softly, dangerously. Tenten and Jin-cai both turned to face her fully. "Tell us everything, Tenten. Every bit of it. And explain how you learned a completely different language!"

Tenten bit her lower lip and looked at Temari. Her friend from the desert country looked confused. She then turned to Jin-cai, who just nodded at her to speak. Her eyes pleaded silently to the elder girl to please, take her out of this mess. But to no avail. She opened her mouth to speak.

"I know that the Land of Heaven has not been heard of since the First Great Shinobi World War, making it a near legend in many places. But it still exists, and has a living shinobi village. Pronounced in the standard shinobi language it would be called Ryogakure. Ryogakure ninja are very prideful of their skills and of their secrecy, and it would mean that something big is going on for Jin-cai to actually come in the open with you with news from our country."

"Then the only reason we don't know about this huge country is because of the secrecy surrounding this shinobi village?" Temari asked, incredulous. Tenten gave a small smile before starting to reply.

"That and the fact that..." She was interrupted by Tsunade, who hadn't missed the words she used in her previous statements.

"You said _our_ country. Is there something that the Third knew that I don't and should?" She had her hands clasped in front of her and her eyebrows were furrowed together in a serious mode.

Tenten bit her lip again, sending glances at Jin-cai. The elder girl just nodded, and Tenten looked down. "I... Yes, there is something. I'm... not from Konoha... I'm from Heaven Country."

"But... the official records! And the elders didn't say anything when Tsunade-sama was appointed..." Shizune stuttered. Tsunade and Temari remained silent, digesting the information.

"The elders don't know. Danzo-sama does, the Third did. This wasn't supposed to come out... I was supposed to be free." Tenten said in a small voice.

"Free? From what? If this Jin-cai came while knowing that you were here, you weren't really free, from whatever it was." Tsunade pressed on.

"Jin-cai helped me escape. That's why she knew where I was... I..." Tenten cut off to take a breath, and Jin-cai interrupted.

"Tenten... Tian-tian. She's not just anyone from the Land of Heaven. She's the princess. The... Tenkage's daughter. I've come to get her."

Tsunade, Shizune, and Temari's eyes grew wide.

"Tell." Tsunade commanded. "From the beginning."

They all turned to Tenten, who gulped and began her story.

* * *

"I don't know where to start... But... Let's see... March 9th, seventeen years ago, now, my twin brother and I were born to the... Tenkage. In Ryogakure of the Land of Heaven. Um... My birth name is what Jin-cai just called me, Tian-tian. Well, it's the same as my name now, just different languages pronounce the characters differently... I guess...

I have three other sisters and one other brother, which makes us six in total. I'm the youngest out of all of us. I think." A quick glance and Jin-cai's nod told her she was in the right track. She took another deep breath and continued.

"I... You have to understand that... the system in the Land of Heaven is a bit... different. The position of the Daimyo and the Kage are one and the same... and the next ruler is decided by bloodline. The Tenkage, when reaching a certain age, chooses his heir among his children. You don't even need to consider birth order... he, or she, will choose one, probably the smartest or the strongest.

The others are then given a seal that prevents the bloodline from passing on to their children... there are hundreds of branch family members by now. And that's my family... my siblings and I are the current Tenkage's children. Which means I'm still a candidate for the Second, the position right underneath the Tenkage... Obviously I wouldn't be chosen for _that _position." Tenten let out a soft chuckle, shaking a little. But she kept talking.

"There are two advisor families, five guard families. Eight major clans in total. There are other smaller clans, and all of these clans have their share of people in the shinobi force. The rest of the Land of Heaven are either civilians or shinobi with no special name. Jin-cai here, comes from one of the guard families. She's the one who watched over me before I ran away.

And in the Land of Heaven, our clan name, or our family name, is always the first syllable of our name. So I'm from the 'Tian' clan, and Jin-cai from the 'Jin' clan. I know the symbol on her shirt reads 'Kane,' but in the Land of Heaven it's red 'Jin'. Advisor clans are 'Ri' and 'Yue' and the guards are 'Huo', 'Shui', 'Mu', 'Jin', and 'Tu'.

As to why I do not use my position to an advantage, I ran away from Ryogakure before I could learn all my clan's bloodline techniques, not that I could have even become a kunoichi there because of the rules concerning our family... And I never had intended to even disclose my identity to anyone after the Third died..." She stopped, sensing that Tsunade was going to ask a question. "Yes?"

"Your... bloodline. What can you do?" A candid, straightforward question. Perfect.

"Our bloodline... the control of the sky, I guess. It's where we get our clan name from. _Tian_. Ten. Heaven. As in clouds, rain, wind, lightning and such... Fully trained we have been known to produce wings of chakra and fly... Only the males have ever learned that technique, however. Tian family girls aren't allowed to know any fighting beyond basic bloodline skills. I learned from watching, and I never used it once since I ran away. Technically I've broken every rule that comes with my family, but I could care less."

"Why did you not use your bloodline upon becoming a Konoha kunoichi?" Tsunade's voice was still soft, dangerous. Almost like Ibiki's when interrogating. Tenten licked her lips.

"I... I'm sorry Tsunade-sama, but... I mean, Ryogakure's people aren't permitted to show their heritage to foreign countries, and well... If word had spread about my bloodline I am pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to make it this far. The Third had let me stay, as an orphan. It _is_ in the official records that I stayed in the same orphanage as Naruto." Tenten looked down.

"But Jin-cai's here now, and she's showed her hitai-ate to you. Something has to be up back in the Land of Heaven. Her mission was probably my retrieval. I need to go back and see." _But I don't want to_, her mind silently added. I don't want to go back. I wanna stay with my team, my friends, I don't want to go back to that horrible city. Outwards she remained silent, studying the floor.

Temari didn't know what to make of this situation. If Tenten, no Tian-tian, she corrected herself, had a bloodline that controlled the _heavens_, then her main element would be _wind_. Not to mention, with the use of her bloodline she could have probably been promoted to jonin status by now. But she guessed that it wasn't what Tenten wanted. She also now understood how Tenten had understood her so easily. But being a _diamyo_'s daughter must have been hard. When had she run off again?

"When did you come to Konoha? And why Konoha?" Temari asked, suddenly curious.

"I was six," Tenten admitted, "I was able to enroll in the Academy without any age troubles and..."

"You ran away when you were _six_." Shizune interrupted, incredulous. Tenten shrugged.

"I had help from an eleven year old and a fifteen year old. And the guards were pretty lax."

Temari shook her head. "I don't think that's what she was asking about." Tenten smiled at her and she smiled back.

Jin-cai spoke next, softly, cautiously. "Tian-tian'r gongzhu... Nin'r de fuqin yao nin'r hui jia'r."

"What did..." Tsunade was cut off by Tenten.

"She just told me that my father wants me back." Tenten turned to Jin-cai. "Why does he want me? And after all these years?"

"Tian-di. You're seventeen now, around the age to be married. You only remember Tian-di as the kind and open and mischievous boy he was before you left. He changed as soon ad you did. Everyone at court knows his famous line, "You don't understand me like my sister did." They, no _he_, needs you on this one." Jin-cai said softly, as if trying not to scare her. "They need your opinion on his bride, or he won't accept any of them. And your father knows that."

All eyes turned to Tenten. "_That_'s why you came here?" She broke out into hysterical laughter. "And here I thought it was some national disaster!" She laughed until tears started to fall out of her eyes. "Tian-di's being betrothed..." Her laughing ebbed and she started to sob. "He still remembers?"

"He was the only thing that prevented your father from sending search parties outside of the country when you disappeared. He knew you were alive." Jin-cai moved to embrace her. Tenten hugged her tightly in return.

"But... he's changed. You said so too."

"He's still counting on your return."

Tsunade cleared her throat. "To clarify: they want you back for your brother's engagement and wedding."

Jin-cai nodded. "Basically it is so."

Tenten's head shot up. "_Basically_?"

"You know what it means." It took a split second for Tenten to break away from Jin-cai's arms and hide behind a startled Temari.

"No, no, NO! You can't make me! Drag me out the gate and I'll shunshin back! I'm not going!"

Temari instantly went into protective sister mode. Her eyes narrowed and she reached for her fan. "What's going on now?"

"What's going on is that they're going to try and stick _me_ into an engagement as well." Tenten ground out between her teeth.

"It's because she's still of the undiluted blood of the Tian clan. They're going to try and win her back once she comes home." Jin-cai turned to Tenten. "Remember that request you made in the letter you left your father? That you be allowed to become a shinobi on your return, if ever you should return? He's willing to uphold that... as long as you take an exam in the form of a series of matches. He's changed, you know. And not in a good way. You should be grateful he didn't include a punishment."

"The prospect of an engagement if I don't pass the test is punishment enough for me. I'm not going back." Tenten's eyes had hardened. "Even if I miss all of you."

"Well, I do have another reason why you should come."

"Oh? I'm not surprised, really." Temari said, grinning. "What is it?"

"Sasuke."

A short pause later, Tsunade slammed her fists on her desk, causing her mug of tea to jump. "I'm sending you on this mission, Tenten, Tian-tian, or whatever you want to be called. And Naruto's going with you."

Tenten froze. "Naruto? No, wait..."

"If we have a lead on Sasuke and Naruto ever finds out, which he has a knack of doing, he'll demand to go anyway. I'll send a team to Ryogakure. What was the mission request, Jin-cai?"

As Jin-cai pulled out a scroll from her bag Tenten turned to Temari with helpless eyes. Temari grimaced back. She was, however, curious on why she was saying no to Naruto's accompaniment, as he was someone one could trust easily. I'll ask later, Temari decided.

"The requested mission is that a force of at least seven Konoha ninja escort the princess back to Ryogakure. As you see on the letter, four more of our shinobi will meet us on the way there, if I alert them to. I guess you could send your shinobi on a dual mission, then. I don't exactly know what Sasuke was doing in the Land of Heaven, but he was there." Jin-cai straightened her posture. "Just keep in mind that if Tian-tian gongzhu is to stay for the engagement _and_ wedding, this may take a while."

"So you have no doubt that Tenten, no, Tian-tian, will be able to pass whatever test given to her by her father?"

"I do not know how much she has grown. But I know that Tian-tian will give her best. So I don't think she'll be staying, no matter how much we have missed her."

Jin-cai gave a sad smile towards Tenten. Tenten mirrored that smile, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

"What will you do, Tenten?" Tsunade finally asked her. "No, wait, don't answer that. We'll talk tomorrow when I decide who this mission will go to. We will definitely need an experienced, elder jonin as the team leader. Obviously we want the rest of Team Gai to go. Naruto, Sakura, and Sai are a must, and Yamato falls under that category too. You need Shikamaru as well for the diplomatic part of this mission. We'll worry about the leader later, I hope."

Temari walked up to the Hokage's desk. "I'm going."

"Temari, you're a Sunagakure kunoichi. Gaara will have to..."

"Listen, I'm not about to let my best friend go back to a family that does not care for her best alone." She turned to Tenten. "And don't you go gloating about this either. We're on even grounds considering heritage now. Almost. Anyway."

Tsunade sighed. "Shizune, code a message to send to Gaara. Send our fastest." Shizune ran out of the room with a hurriedly shouted "Yes, Tsunade-sama!"

Jin-cai dropped a small bag on Tsunade's desk. "This should cover the mission with the amount of people requested. Excuse the fact that we do not use the same currency. The payment is in terms of coins of gold. This should be an A-class mission, yes?" When there was no answer, she continued. "We will leave in 2 days."

Tenten then chose to speak up. "Alright, then I'll make preparations for going back. I forbid any talk of my heritage, until I decide to reveal it, not even to my genin team. I'm sorry that I hid it until now to you, Tsunade-sama. I bid you all good night." Her back was straight, head held high. But there were tears in her eyes. She turned to look at her best friend, giving her a small smile. Then she walked out of the room, as graceful as any princess could be.

This time it was Jin-cai who bit her lower lip. She then straightened, eyes hardening, sighing as if hearing a silent command. She hurried out of the room to follow Tenten, head bowed, hands held together at the stomach.

Temari stared after them. Just like a faithful servant, she thought. She bid Tsunade good night and walked out of the room as well, intent on catching her friend for a talk.

Shizune stopped her before she was half out of the door, however. "I think she'd want to be left alone, tonight, at least."

Temari nodded. I'll find her tomorrow then, was her silent answer.

* * *

In her office, Tsunade had started petting her pet pig, glaring at the mission scroll from Jin-cai. She sighed, putting her face into her palms.

"This is going to take a while." She took out several blank mission scrolls, a brush, and an ink well, and started to write out mission scrolls.

Thirty minutes later, Shizune entered the room with a mug of tea to find that the Hokage had gone to sleep on her desk for the umpteenth time.

"Tsunade-sama!"

* * *

**Author Notes **(this is quite long, so you may want to skip to the parts you want to read)**:**

Well, this is the start of the re-write. I'll be leaving the old story up until I'm satisfied with the flow of this one... It's basically the same story, but in better words. I think. I hope you all will be satisfied with what I'm posting here today, because I certainly think it's better than before. Now to the things you may be confused about.

Terminology:

I changed a lot of terms from my original story, starting from the title.

_Heaven Country_ is basically what we would be saying if the manga was in Chinese. But it's not. So, _Ten no Kuni_ instead of _Tianguo_, like I originally intended it to be. Therefore the title now is _The Land of Heaven_.

The _Ryokage_ has been changed to _Tenkage_, as I think it's more befitting for the Kage/Daimyo to be called the _Heaven's Shadow_.

The city name, _Ryogakure_, has remained. I was tempted tore-name it _Kumogakure_, village hidden in the clouds, but sadly that name has already been taken. For the Land of Lighting.

Characters:

I cut a lot of characters from the main 'cast' of this fiction, simply because I realized that too many characters would end in nothing but through and thorough confusion. And it would be an extremely irrational decision on Tsunade's part if she really sent the entire Konoha-12 (12 including Sai) to a far off foreign country.

Jin-cai is an OC, and I'll be trying to make her as realistic as possible. Shouldn't be that hard, since I'm basing her personality on a friend of mine.

If you haven't read _Heaven Country_, you'll have to know that there will be a lot of OCs in this piece of fiction. Not too many should appear regularly, however, except Tenten's father, brother, and Jin-cai. If any should seem unnatural or MarySue/GaryStu, please feel free to inform me.

Language:

Obviously, I'm using Chinese here. What else could this be? But please remember, readers, that I am not fluent in Chinese. It is my third language and in fact I have not taken any real lessons for around a year. So forgive me if you see me make any mistakes and try to correct me. Any questions on pronunciation as well and I'll try and answer as best as possible.

And the first thing that my test-reader asked me was _Why the hell did you misspell all of Jin-cai's dialogue that's in Chinese?_ The answer is because of her accent. A friend of mine has a very heavy Beijing accent (habit of adding 'er at every sentence (or phrase) end) and I tried to incorporate that into Jin-cai's speaking. Tenten, on the other hand, has been away for eleven years. Of course she'll lose her accent for a more generalized one. I considered her not being able to speak her language at all... but that wouldn't make this story, would it? Her speaking has a few grammar mistakes in it, I think. And besides, I'm not going to be using Mandarin much after this chapter.

Any other questions? Review and I'll get back to you in the next chapter. Either that or email me, if you want a faster reply.

Pairings:

Like before, this will be NejixTenten and ShikamaruxTemari. If you haven't noticed already the P.O.I.'s will be from Tenten (mostly) and Temari (minimally). And oh, Sasuke will be evil. Trust me on that. Still unsure if he should be dragged back to Konoha or not.

Timeline:

Like I said in summary, takes place during Shippuden, when Jiraiya's not dead yet.

Why a whole new fiction instead of edits:

Because I felt that my chapter story _Heaven Country_ deserved redemption from it's path towards a total MarySue fiction, and that redemption would require the comprehension, deconstruction, and reconstruction of the entire thing. (Wow I feel like such a FMAniac now...) And because I still absolutely love Tenten. Favorite Kunoichi.

* * *

Please review. They fuel my brain with ideas and keep me running in my busy schedule. Most of the time, at least. The flow of the next chapters may be decided from those reviews I get for this chapter.

Ja Ne,

GoldenDragonClouds


	2. A Flashback and Introductions

**The Land of Heaven  
**(A **Heaven Country **rewrite)**  
By: **GoldenDragonClouds

**Chapter 2: A Flashback and Introductions**

Summary: Tenten is not the orphaned girl everyone thinks she is. She's actually from a prestigious clan, and hails from the legendary Ryogakure of the Land of Heaven. She ran away because her father wouldn't let her become a ninja, as was the clan rules with women. Now her best friend from Ryogakure has come to get her after eleven years, and she has no choice but to go back. What will her friends think? Will she reveal her secret at all? Takes place in Shippuden, before Jiraiya goes off and dies. NejiTen, ShikaTema.

Disclaimer: Don't own.

* * *

(Flashback)

_Her father Tian-long gazed down at his children, her siblings, all assembled in from of him in the formal attire of the Dragon's Court. He then smiled at them, a rare sight to behold._

_The six siblings stared at his feet, the lowering of gazes a sign of respect. They were waiting for him to speak, and so he did._

_"My children. As you all know, the Tianying's Second, your aunt Tian-hua, is in charge of the old artifacts of our country. Every ten years she chooses a few that we want to duplicate, and give out as gifts. Here are ten duplicates, one of each of the ones she found." He gestured to the table in front of him. "You may choose one. Choose your gift wisely."_

_His eldest two squealed in delight, and Tian-long mentally frowned at them while nodding in approval at the younger ones, standing still with contemplative smiles on their faces._

_"You will approach the table by birth order." He added, half because he wanted order, half because he wanted to see his children's reactions._

_Tian-lai and Tian-lan grumbled, but Tian-tian smiled. None of her siblings, she knew, would choose her preference. It was a simple matter of Tianming, of Fate's loom._

_Tian-xian, feeling all authoritative, stepped forth towards the table and scrutinized every which gift sharp eyes. She then strayed away from the three swords and instead focused on the other gifts. But there was one she lingered on, and that gift she chose. It was a beautiful brooch, shaped like a magnificent swan spreading its wings. It showed Tian-xian's nature exactly- beautiful, but conceited, caring only about her looks._

_Their father frowned. So it won't be her, Tian-tian mused. She watched with interest as Tian-lai, Tian-xian's younger twin, stepped towards the table._

_Tian-lai's choice was yet another brooch, a butterfly this time. It reflected her beauty that rivaled her twin's. Yet it also showed the fact that like a butterfly, Tian-lai never stayed long in one place, flitting from one decision to then next._

_"I thought as much..." Her father was muttering. Only Tian-tian heard him, the others' attentions too intent on the gifts remaining._

_Tian-lan, after a short gloating session with Tian-biao as the audience, stepped up to the table. She took the longest time, ultimately choosing a crystal statuette of a phoenix. The statuette was truly beautiful, but it as well reflected it's owner's personality._

_She cared, of course, and those were the intricate details of the bird. However, she could not put her abilities into practical use, just like the statuette was useless but for decoration. So she would be, later in life, admired but never coveted for._

_Tian-long smiled at his son Tian-biao, who stepped out boldly to take one sweeping look at the table. But the father's smile turned down with disappointment when Tian-biao strut forward to grab the largest and heaviest of the three swords, a triumphant smirk plastered on his face. His small nine-year-old form teetered from the weight of the sword but he brandished it nonetheless._

_Tian-tian raged inwardly at the stupidity of her brother. Had he not been listening to his lessons? Had he really never heard of the legend of the Demon Sword? Although this was obviously only a copy, it was a copy of the sword most coveted, the one that was most fought for. This could only mean that someday the foolish prince would fall, as was the curse of the Demon sword. He had chosen the gift among ten that showed him best, after all. An arrogant prince that thought of strength and invincibility over all._

_A glance at her father told her he was thinking the same thing. A stormy look flitted onto his face for a moment before he adopted that stoic look every Tianying in history seemed to be able to posses. No one else noticed this quick change. I am the best at reading stoic faces, Tian-tian told herself, even if I'm only five._

_She then stood attention once more as her twin brother hesitantly approached the table. Tian-di scrutinized every gift and after much contemplation, he lifted one of the two elaborately embroidered scrolls on the tabletop. The writing on its exterior indicated that the scroll was on the history of the Land of Heaven._

_The look on her father's face was one of approval. Nothing had changed except for a slight crinkling of eyes, yet Tian-tian knew that her father was smiling proudly on the inside. Tian-tian knew then and there that Tian-di, no matter what, would be named the true heir, many years later. All her father had to do now was to choose the second. But she was not going to let that happen to her._

_It was her turn next, as the youngest. She gazed at the five left over items on the tabletop without great interest, much to the annoyance of her father, she knew. What was left were two swords, one scroll, a brooch and a statuette. She didn't even have to look, really, she decided, rolling her eyes and giving a small child's smirk._

_The scroll. It was the scroll that drew her attention. It was written in her language, but the writing hinted that the content was not of her people, but of the five great hidden villages, and the history of shinobi in the many lands of this world. She picked it up, indicating her choice._

_Tian-tian glanced at her father to see him frown slightly and smiled. She knew it. Whatever it took, she wasn't going to be held back here. Whatever it took, she was going to break the rules of the Tian clan to fufill her dream. Whatever it took, she would become a kunoichi. A proper one, like the legendary Tsunade. Not like the weak ones here in the Land of Heaven._

_She would be a strong, independent person._

_Not just a princess._

(Flashback over)

* * *

Tenten awoke to the sound of knocking and jumped up from her bed. She rubbed her eyes thoroughly, trying to hide traces of last night's late talks with Jin-cai. What had surprised her was the dream. She hadn't been having any dreams related to her childhood since she was eleven... There was the sharp rap on her door again. Tenten groaned. Only one person would ever knock like that.

"Coming!" She shouted, changing out of her pajamas into her usual garb. Her clothes had changed a lot over the years, she mused, and frowned as she thought of the traditional clothing back in the Land of Heaven. Those tight, long dresses of the upper class had been hard to move in and were not to her liking. Her clothes now did reflect her original country, yet not the clothes of the nobility. They were more like the ones peasants wore, for hard work.

She hastily pulled her hair into the usual buns and yanked opened the door to find a scowling Neji. She smiled at him.

"How long were you going to make me wait?" Neji demanded, and Tenten sighed.

"I have a guest and slept in. Sorry, Neji." Neji's slight scowl turned into a disapproving frown.

Tenten stepped back to allow him into her messy two-room-plus-kitchen-and-bathroom home, and he took the invitation to go sit at the table in the kitchen. Remnants of Jin-cai's breakfast littered the sink, and Tenten hastily cleared them away to pull out a kettle and set it on the stove. In her hurry, she poured more than enough water for three cups of tea into it.

She then sat down in front of him with a questioning gaze. "And so? What brings you here so early in the morning? We don't have morning practice today." Neji held up three mission scrolls, all three stamped with a clear A.

"A messenger came to the Hyuga compound to tell me to give these to you, Lee, and a Jin-cai?" Neji raised an eyebrow. "Is this Jin-cai your guest? Why is he staying with you?"

"_She_, is an old friend of mine. She's from a different village... I met her on a mission once, I think, in Tea Country?" Neji had thought Jin-cai was a boy? Wait until she heard about _that_! Tenten then noticed his face relaxing, and tensed herself. What was going on inside that large brain of his? As if on cue, Neji opened his mouth just to be cut off by a shout from the bathroom.

"_Tenten_!" Tenten flinched, and Neji looked moderately amused. He raised an eyebrow again.

"That'd be her." She bolted from the table to the bathroom door. "What do you need, Jin-cai?"

"Where are the towels? I can't find any!"

"They're all in the cabinet under the sink."

She listened for a creak, then a shutting of the cabinet. "Oh," came the cheerful response. Jin-cai yanked open the bathroom door and waltzed out, just to freeze at the sight of Neji at the kitchen table.

"Tenten, who's he? Your boyfriend?" She nonchalantly asked, going to the kitchen herself. She pulled up a chair between Tenten's and Neji's seats. Tenten rolled her eyes.

"No! Not like that! Neji's too cold for that kind of affection. Just joking, Neji," she added before Neji could get mad. "Neji's my teammate from my Genin team, Jin-cai. And one of my best friends." She grinned at him.

Jin-cai snorted. "You were always best with the stoic ones."

Tenten stuck her tongue out at her, and they both started laughing. Neji looked on, almost impassively. But Tenten could tell he was curious, curious as to what Jin-cai meant by "always." She decided to introduce them to each other.

"Anyway. Jin-cai, Hyuga Neji. Neji, Jin-cai. Neji's a jonin, the only one our age at that level. Well, from Konoha, anyway. Jin-cai's from..."

"Ryogakure. You don't believe me, fine. Tsunade'll explain in the meeting anyway." Jin-cai but in. She smirked when Tenten started.

"We have a meeting? When?"

"In around thirty minutes." Neji replied for her. Tenten let out a sigh of relief.

"And here I thought we were late." The kettle whistled, startling her once more. Tenten went to get the tea, concentrating on the task at hand and blocking out all sounds from behind her. "Tea's ready!" She said, straightening to deliver the three mugs of tea to the table. She then stopped, frowning. There was a silence between the furious Neji and a grinning Jin-cai.

Neji grabbed his tea with a scowl, his face smoothening out a bit as he started to sip the hot liquid. It only took a raised eyebrow from Jin-cai, however, to bring back that scowl on his face.

Tenten didn't even want to know what had gone on between the two. She sighed, however. This was _not_ going to be pretty.

* * *

Half an hour later found them in the corridor outside of Tsunade's office with Lee, Temari, Shikamaru, Sakura, Sai, Yamato, and Naruto. Tenten winced at the sight of the orange-clad ninja, much to the curiosity of her foreign friends.

"So you made it on time," Temari drawled, trying to act normal after what happened last night. Tenten sighed.

"Yeah. And they," she pointed at Jin-cai and Neji, "were bickering the whole way here. I don't know what happened to make Neji hate Jin-cai so much. She's a nice person."

"Wait, she's the one from yesterday!" Sakura exclaimed, making Jin-cai turn around and wave.

"Hey, it's the pink-hair!" Tenten jabbed Jin-cai's arm.

"That wasn't very nice!" Jin-cai held up her hands in retaliation.

"I don't know her name!" Sakura laughed at that, choosing to introduce herself.

"I'm Haruno Sakura. You are?"

"Jin-cai, from the Land of Heaven."

"What, seriously?" Sakura exclaimed, eyes going wide. Jin-cai rolled her eyes.

"No, silly, I'm a wandering ninja who has nothing better to do than to lie to everyone I meet." She said with a completely straight face.

Sakura's face contorted in rage, and she opened her mouth to retaliate. At that moment, however, Shizune opened the office door and told the group that Tsunade was ready to meet them.

* * *

In less than five minutes, the office had descended into pandemonium.

"You really _are_ from the Land of Heaven!"

"Why are we escorting a _Princess_? Shouldn't she be with the _royal guard_ or something?"

"This... is _so_ troublesome."

"But the legends were true?" They all turned to Jin-cai, who only smiled at them.

"Of course," she said, "We've been keeping quiet for so long, no wonder it seems like we're only a legend. Although, our country is as large as Fire Country. It was pretty difficult, but we're going on fine."

"Why did you come here then?" Sakura asked, curious.

"I already told you, our Tenkage is requesting that shinobi escort our princess back to our country- she traveled here some time ago and needs to go back." Jin-cai looked at Tsunade. "Are introductions in order? I do want to know who it is that is going to escort me and my princess."

"Why don't you go first?" The female Hokage guestured to her, and Jin-cai complied.

"As I already told you, I'm Tenten's friend from Ryogakure. I am one of the _royal guard_, like one of you pointed out that a princess should need just a few moments ago, so I'm the one that came here to request the mission from you. Anyway, nice to meet you."

Tsunade turned from Jin-cai to Shikamaru, nodding at him to speak.

"Nara Shikamaru. I'm a Chunin, and I'll look over the diplomatic talks in this mission. If they are any." Shikamaru turned to the person next to him, who happened to be Temari. "You next."

"I'm Temari of the Sand, Jonin. Obviously I'm from Sunagakure, but I'll be accompanying you on this mission because the Kazekage wants me to go." The introductions went on.

"Rock Lee! I am a Chunin of the most youthful Konohagakure! May I say that..." He was cut short by Tenten snapping in front of his face. Obviously she didn't want an embarrassment in front of Jin-cai.

"Hyuuga Neji. We've met." His short, terse, introduction made Tenten frown. What exactly _had _Jin-cai said to him? Neji was still obviously mad at her.

"Haruno Sakura. I'm a Chunin and a medic. Nice to meet you!" Sakura smiled pleasantly, and Jin-cai smiled back, nodding at the next person in the room.

"My name is Sai. Nice to meet you." Jin-cai raised an eyebrow at his false smile, noting his unusual clothing.

"Um... right. Sure. Next?"

"My name is Yamato, and I will be the leader of this mission." He smiled, and Jin-cai frowned.

"Rank?" She asked skeptically, and Naruto but in before Yamato could answer.

"He's an ex-ANBU!" Jin-cai raised an eyebrow at his outburst. Yamato groaned slightly.

"And who would you be?"

"Uzumaki Naruto, the next Hokage of Konoha!" Naruto exclaimed, flashing a smile at her.

Jin-cai froze, eyes growing wide. "You..." she whispered, turning a jerky head towards Tenten, and then at Tsunade. They both nodded back, Tenten more discretely. Jin-cai swallowed before exhibiting a pleasant smile on her face. Tenten could see that it was strained.

"And what rank would you be?"

"I'm ah... a Genin."

The strained smile turned into a relaxed smirk. "And you expect to become Hokage? Who were your teachers? Would they not be disappointed at you considering your current rank?"

Naruto instantly bristled at the comment, crouching into a battle stance. "I don't care whoever you are, but you're worse than Sai with insults." He launched a kunai at her.

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed, and Yamato instantly tried to retrieve the flying kunai with his wooden arm. His hand met thin air when the kunai stopped in front of Jin-cai's face to drop into her waiting hand.

The majority of the room blanched.

"What was... what the _hell_ just happened?" Naruto asked cautiously.

"My bloodline. I am of the _Jin _clan, or in your language, _Kin_. We can control all types of metal, if trained." Jin-cai grinned evilly. "Which means I can do _this_."

The kunai flew out of her hands, blunt end first, straight at Naruto's headband. The force of the impact was strong enough to blow him into the wall, leaving an imprinted area of impact. The others laughed at Naruto's comical expression, loosening the tense atmosphere.

"Oops." Jin-cai grinned, sending Sakura into heaps of silent laughter.

"Yosh! Friend of Tenten! The power of youth flows within you! We shall commence and complete whatever dangerous mission it is that you requested with this flowing power!"

Jin-cai looked moderately alarmed at his sudden outburst.

"Um... yeah. Sure... Lee, was it? What's up with the green spandex?" She looked towards Tenten and Neji, knowing from a late night talk with Tenten that this was one of her other teammates.

"Lee, let's not right now. Jin-cai, I'll um... explain later. Or not. You don't want to hear it." Tenten and Neji both shuddered as she finished the statement.

"What else can you do?" Sakura asked, once she had finished coughing up the last of her laughs.

"Um, here, wait. I was supposed to give the Hokage this..." Jin-cai reached into her bag to rummage through the different scrolls inside. "Ah, here it is!"

She unfurled the scroll, unsealing what was inside with a dash of blood and a small "Kai!" It turned out to be a lump of metal of a gold sheen. "Just wait," she said before anyone could ask any questions, and pumped chakra into her hands until they glowed a soft blue.

She then took the metal lump into her hands, moving her fingers here and there and keeping it up until the sweat shone on her brow. She then let go, removing the blue haze from view and revealing a large clockwork bird on her palm. She held it out to Tsunade. "There you go. Our Tenkage wanted me to give this to you, for communicational purposes during the mission."

"So that thing is a..."

"Yes, a communication device. It doesn't fly far, but with a twin somewhere else the messages will be passed quickly. Simply open the hatch and place the paper or scroll inside of the bird to transport it to the other. Only those of our clan knows how to make these, and..." Jin-cai took a kunai to etch several characters onto the bird's head. "There. It'll only transport messages to the Tenkage's now."

"It looks a lot like the thing Chiyo-baasan used during our retrieval mission." Naruto said, looking at Sakura and Temari. They nodded, slowly, sadly. Yamato broke them out of their sentiments.

"What other notable bloodlines are there in Ryogakure?"

"Well, not in Ryogakure; five of our major clans rule over the five major districts of our country. And then there's the Tenkage who rules over everyone from Ryogakure. I'm from the Jin clan, as you already know, and the ability to control metal is our bloodline limit. Um... There's the Huo clan... I guess in your language it's _Hi_, or _Ho_, as in _Hokage_."

"So their name is Fire?" Sakura but in, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah. It's cuz they use and manipulate fire...without any hand seals. If powerful enough they can emit fire from their fists and feet, if not, usually from their mouths. There's the Shui clan, _Mizu_, in your language. They can't emit water unless using seals like normal shinobi, but they can still control it, quickly and firmly, without the use of seals. There's the Tu clan... _Tsuchi_. I guess all of these clans are like the elemental countries' names. Well, we don't have a Dian, a lightning, in favor of Jin, metal. Anyway. Tu clan... dirt? No, more like Earth. Soil. Dirt, rock, and if strong enough, sand."

Jin-cai didn't notice the entire group shudder, having pulled herself deep into her mind to think of the different clans individually for explanations. Temari shook her head. She prayed those Tu clan members weren't as brutal as her brother once was. Jin-cai opened her mouth to continue.

"And then there's the Mu clan... wait, which do we not have that's replaced by _Mu_? Oh... oh. We don't have a _Feng_, a _Kaze_. Well, still. Mu clan... I actually don't know how to say this in the common shinobi speech... They control wood. And plants. Like you did with your arm." She pointed at Yamato.

Many of them stared at her, shocked. More Wood release users?

"Oh, and the Tenkage is always, always, _always_, from the Tian clan. And unless you are from the Tian clan, you don't know the full prowess of their bloodline limit." She smirked when they all faltered, having expected her to explain about the Tian clan's bloodline as well. "Their purpose is to keep the Land of Heaven from strife with the shinobi lands. And it's a Tian heiress we'll be escorting there."

Silence fell on the room. And then Shikamaru opened his mouth.

"_A_ heiress? Not _the_?"

They all listened closely, knowing that what came next would be important.

"Oh, yeah. _A _heiress. There is no birthright, it's always the incumbent Tenkage who selects the next leader. Everyone gets an equal chance." She shrugged, indicating her indifference with the idea.

"So... the person we are escorting is a possible future Tenkage?" Sai asked suddenly, startling Naruto.

"Um... not really. She's been away too long to be considered a _safe_ choice. She might, however, be chosen for the Tenkage's Second."

There were millions of questions the others wanted to ask, Tenten was sure. But she wouldn't let them do _that_. She opened her mouth to ask a question herself.

"Why was she away from the country?" Damn, that could go in a direction she didn't want. But she let it go anyway.

"She wanted to see the outside world. Tian clan women aren't permitted to become kunoichi. They learn their bloodline techniques, but even then only around half of them, nothing more and nothing less. She wanted to see a place where this rule didn't exist, I suppose." Jin-cai nodded at the others' sympathetic gazes.

"But... but... the power of youth should be..."

"Enough, Lee. It's been like that for more than a hundred years now." Jin-cai smiled at him. This only egged him on.

"Then we shall free them of this curse of fate! Just like Naruto did for our Neji!" Tenten and Sakura giggled at Neji's twitching.

"Um... glad you're getting into the mood, Lee. But our mission is _tomorrow_." Neji took the chance to ask the questions that had been bothering him.

"And our mission is to simply escort her back to Ryogakure?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Then why is this an _A_ class mission than the usual _B_ we save for the safety of a daimyo's son or daughter? And why are there so many shinobi needed in this mission? And not only that, an enemy ninja is revealing all the bloodlines of her country. Is this not suspicious?"

"Geez, Neji, it's 'cuz this person's a _Princess_!" Naruto exclaimed, and was about to continue when Jin-cai cut him off.

"No, um... Naruto. That's not the only reason I came to request a mission. You see..." she paused, turning to Tsunade. "Maybe it's better for you to explain this."

Tsunade nodded, taking the attention. "The escort is your cover mission, the one you will be paid for. Your real mission on the other hand... Is retrieval." She paused to look Naruto straight in the eye. "Sasuke has been spotted in the Land of Heaven. You are to bring him back alive."

* * *

**Author Notes:**

This was a hard chapter to rewrite.

Not only did I have to cut quite a few characters for the desired number of shinobi in the team, but I had to change around a lot of the dialogue. I also changed the purpose of their mission, so that they knew they were most likely going to meet Sasuke in Ryogakure. Prepared meetings are much easier to write. Yes, I am that lazy; I just admitted it here, there you go.

I feel thoroughly ashamed about the original Chapter 2 of _Heaven Country_. Jin-cai came off as such a... Mary Sue, so I apologized greatly to the person she was based off of. She waved me off, but I still feel I can only redeem myself by re-writing this entire thing, which I am doing. Speaking of which... I think I'll be cutting out most of the original chapter 3 to replace it with a more... intelligent story line. Original chapter 3 is too... idiotic.

Tenkage, with the kanji pronounced in Mandarin, is Tianying. Because of this I have changed a few of my OCs' names (particularly the names of Tenten's siblings) to make them sound different from this title.

In the future you will see Ryogakure referred to as Longyinli (龙隠里), Mandarin pronunciation. I tried to translate it to the best of my abilities... It still might be wrong.

The word "kai" has the same pronunciation in Japanese and Chinese, for those of you that have yet to know.

On the other hand, I laughed so hard when I discovered the pronunciation for Neji's kanji in Chinese, so much that I decided not to use any of their kanji names in the later chapters of this fiction as I had originally planned. Go look it up if you wish to know so much. Or just ask me in a review/PM. It's not _that_ funny, by the way. I just laughed.

Again, just for clarification, I am not Chinese. Not far from it, but still, no. Mandarin is my third language and as I mentioned in the last chapter's Author's Note, I have not taken proper lessons in around a year. Big thank-you's to those who _are_ fluent in Mandarin and take time to correct my mistakes!

Please review. Whether it be encouraging remarks, correction, criticism, ideas, or just a few words, one small review can brighten up an author's day. Most of the time, at least. It does cause us to write faster, I should think. I _do_ need help on the rewrite of Chapter 3, however.

Ja Ne,

GDC


	3. Bonds and Relations

**The Land of Heaven  
**(A **Heaven Country **rewrite)**  
By: **GoldenDragonClouds

**Chapter 3: Bonds and Relations**

Summary: Tenten is not the orphaned girl everyone thinks she is. She's actually from a prestigious clan, and hails from the legendary Ryogakure of the Land of Heaven. She ran away because her father wouldn't let her become a ninja, as was the clan rules with women. Now her best friend from Ryogakure has come to get her after eleven years, and she has no choice but to go back. What will her friends think? Will she reveal her secret at all? Takes place in Shippuden, before Jiraiya goes off and dies. NejiTen, ShikaTema.

Disclaimer: Don't own.

* * *

It was about ten minutes since the mission briefing in Tsunade's office, and the people assigned to this mission were walking down the streets of Konoha, talking amongst themselves. Sakura, determined to impress the foreign kunoichi and to wheedle out information from her, kept up with Jin-cai's fast steps while the rest of the group lagged behind. Yamato had tried to keep up with the two high spirited kunoichi to find out something about the Wood Release style in the Land of Heaven, but had soon given up to come back and walk with the rest of them.

Tenten sighed, annoyed, and Neji gave her a questioning glance. She inclined her head towards her right, where Lee and Sai were attempting to talk to a still-shocked Naruto, attempting being the key word. The usually hyperactive ninja had been replaced by a silent one, walking with a dull glaze over his eyes. Tenten chewed on her bottom lip, indicating that she was worried about him.

Neji closed his eyes briefly and nodded. He'll be fine, was what he was saying.

Tenten puffed up her cheeks then let out a breath. I know, but I'm still worried, she told her teammate. Neji and she had, after being teammates so long, developed a way of communication that only required small gestures and facial expressions, in Neji's case that being replaced by raised eyebrows. Tenten smiled. But I know _he_'ll be fine. He is _Naruto_, after all.

Neji saw through that. Damn, Tenten thought. He was now looking her, his left eyebrow raised higher than his right. He was asking her what she was hiding. Tenten scrunched up her face to cheekily grin at him. Nothing! Nothing at all! Her teammate relented, looking up once to give a slight smirk. Neji's version of rolling his eyes. Tenten let her attention go back to the shinobi clad in orange and black.

It had obviously been a shock for him to find that Sasuke had killed Orochimaru and had approached a different ninja village after that, a village that was _not_ Konoha, not Konoha at all. That and the fact that Sasuke now led his own four-man team, composed of a strange mix of shinobi who had been experimented on by Orochimaru.

Tenten shuddered. That had been a surprise for herself as well, that Sasuke had approached the nin-cats residing in the ruins of a city in the Land of Heaven, in the Mu clan's district.

Mu clan. She grimaced again, remembering just how their rather large group had been forcibly thrown out of the office.

* * *

(Flashback)

_"I do wonder, though." Jin-cai had spoken up out of the silence that had fallen after Tsunade's short explanation on the _Sasuke_ situation._

_"Yes?" The Hokage acknowledged her, and Jin-cai inclined her head towards Yamato._

_"You can use the... Wood related jutsu, yes?" Yamato nodded._

_"Yes, that's right."_

_"So are you related to the First Hokage then? Last I heard, the only one left of the Senju family was your current Hokage..." Jin-cai trailed off until Tsunade nodded at her._

_"That is correct, but what is it that you were wondering about?" Jin-cai smirked at her._

_"Well, your clan, your people, are originally from Ryogakure. From a branch family of the Mu clan."_

_Jin-cai gloated a bit as the rest of the shinobi in the room stared at her. Even Tenten had not known this information._

_"What I'm wondering is..." Jin-cai turned to face Tsunade again. "If Yamato can use the bloodline now, how come _you _can't? You're more directly descended from them, are you not? I wonder..."_

(Flashback over)

* * *

Tenten winced at the memory of the door slamming on them. Obviously, Tsunade did _not_ like the loss of the Senju bloodline mentioned. She wished Jin-cai would have shown at least a bit more courtesy to the Hokage...

Said foreign kunoichi had currently managed to shake off Sakura to head over to Naruto.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked, concerned. Naruto looked up at the sound of her voice.

"Huh?" It only took a moment for his brain to register that everyone was staring at him, and he hastily pulled on a smile on his face. "Yeh, yeah! Of course I'm fine!" The others stared at him pointedly. "What?" Naruto asked aloud.

Sakura, belatedly running up to Jin-cai, hit Naruto on the head.

"Idiot!" she screeched, startling everyone else, "I know it's hard that Sasuke's gone over to a different hidden village and everything, but _we have a client_! _Be cheerful_!"

She perked up again, smiling at everyone else. "So, Jin-cai, about the herbs you mentioned earlier..."

She trailed off, realizing that it wasn't going to work. Everyone had seen the glimmer of hurt in her eyes, not to mention Naruto's.

Naruto chuckled slowly. "Sorry guys... I'm just..."

"Yeah, Sasuke. We get it," Temari budged in, "But think. You get to meet him on this mission, so just try and bring him back again!"

"You think we can bring him back this time?" Sakura seemed doubtful, sending glances at Naruto. Naruto's eyes, however, seemed to have a blaze in them. He was determined once more.

"Of course," Temari graced him with a rare smile, "You guys brought my brother back from the dead, after all. We of the Sand will forever be grateful for that."

"Yes!" Lee suddenly jumped in. "Comrades will never abandon each other! With the power of youth we shall prevail and..."

"_Shut up_! _Lee_!" Sakura shouted at him, hitting the back of his head. Lee made a comical expression, rubbing the spot where she hit him.

"Ouch..." he complained lightly, while everyone else laughed.

Tenten smiled. Of course Lee would bee the icebreaker. She then froze, eyes going wide. No. He wasn't. She sent an alarmed glance at Neji, who returned it. Oh gods, no.

Neji lurched forwards to try and grab Lee's wrist before he moved... he was too late.

Lee had taken out a full body green suit from his shinobi bag, and was currently holding it up for Jin-cai to behold.

Sakura and Yamato looked as if they were going to be sick.

"_This_!" Lee exclaimed, "Is an outfit made of stretchy spandex, which my former sensei has passed on for me to wear!"

Jin-cai eyed the mass of green warily, poking it. "Okay... and why are you showing this to me again?"

Lee's eyes lit up. "This is the answer to your earlier question! This green spandex makes it easier for us to move, allowing faster, unhindered movements! It is the ultimate shinobi outfit and I present this pair to you!"

Before Neji or Tenten could say anything, Naruto butt in.

"Yeah!" he exclaimed, "Bushy brows' sensei gave a pair to me too! It's really awesome, but the Perverted Sage wouldn't let me wear it."

Jin-cai's eyes twitched. "Uh. Yeah. Okay, I get it... but I'll decline the offer." She glanced at Tenten, who was furiously nodding. While it was good that Naruto was initially over Sasuke's... defection, it wouldn't be nice, or even funny, to force _those things_ on Jin-cai.

"Uh... Lee, I don't think it's a great idea to offer..." Tenten began, only to be cut off by Neji.

"Lee. Gai might be around the dango shops today. Why don't you go and inform him about our mission? I'm sure he'd like to know."

"Yes!" Lee was gone before they could react.

"Um..." Jin-cai blinked, turning to Tenten, "What... was that?"

"Something our former _sensei_ wears all the time. _All_ the time." Tenten shook her head. "It's really ridiculous, but... Gai and Lee think its some kind of amazing thing."

"Hey!" Naruto shouted at her, "It _is_ awesome! You guys just don't know it!"

Tenten raised an eyebrow. "Somehow, I _highly_ doubt that."

Sakura laughed at Naruto's expression.

"Yeah, so that was my other teammate." Tenten told Jin-cai.

Jin-cai blinked. "He really is... exactly how you described him. Although, I thinkthe word _crazy_ would suit him better?"

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it. My Genin team was full of training addicts. Workaholics, the lot of them, including this one right here. Right, Neji?" she turned to her teammate with a smirk on her face. He glared back at her.

Shikamaru groaned. "Oh, by Kami. How did you even put up with them in the first place?"

Temari laughed. "You're right, they do need a break sometime. Even Gaara isn't that much of a workaholic."

Neji turned his glare to the Konoha-Suna liaison, who looked at him with innocent eyes. This time, Naruto started laughing.

"Ha! You're so right; Bushy brows's team _is_ really hard working. They need a vacation."

Sakura and Yamato seemed satisfied that Naruto had recovered, but Sai decided just then to throw in his spoonful.

"You yourself train mindlessly, Dickless."

Naruto turned to Sai, furious. "You... _Don't call me that_!" he shouted at his teammate, flailing his arms and sending the girls present into fits of laughter. Even Neji and Shikamaru quirked a smile at his antics.

"Besides!" Naruto exclaimed over the din of laughter. "I haven't seen Neji train, but Bushy brows and his sensei are really crazy!"

Jin-cai turned to him, curiosity apparent on her face. "Why do you keep calling Lee 'Bushy brows'?"

Although this would have normally have Naruto shouting at the person who had asked for not noticing the obvious, Tenten had blocked his mouth before he could say anything. She grinned at Jin-cai's raised eyebrows.

"You'll see, if I'm correct, in five... four... three... two..." she took a large step back, just in time to avoid two green blurs from running over her toes. Shikamaru wasn't so lucky and he fell to the floor, clutching at his feet. Temari laughed.

When Tenten had brushed herself down she looked up to see Sakura staring at her as if she had spoken an entirely different language. No doubt the same expression would be on her face if she met Tenten as Tian-tian.

"What?" she asked instead, feigning ignorance, "I just know them well enough to expect when and how they're coming."

A loud guffaw caught her attention, and Tenten and Sakura turned to see Jin-cai and Naruto howling with laughter, clutching at their stomachs. Lee and Gai stood, quiet for once, identical looks of confusion on their faces.

A quick glance at Neji's facial expression confirmed Tenten's suspicions. She sighed. "Of _course_ she'll laugh over such a nickname..." Jin-cai had been the one to convince the others close to her back in Ryogakure to call her Bo-bo. _Steam buns_. Tian-tian had been furious for a while, until finally consenting to the nickname when her brother told her it was cute. She only let her friends call her that, though, not that she had had many friends at all. A sudden thought crossed her and she frowned. Would the friends she left behind call her that still? Her eyes narrowed. They'd better not.

"So, Naruto," Jin-cai had finally calmed herself down and was struggling not to openly stare at Lee or Gai, "why were you so upset that Sasuke defected? I wouldn't give a shit about a bastard like him. Who is he to you?"

A heavy silence fell on the group and and the Konoha ninja present turned their heads to Naruto and Sakura, both of whom had frozen in mid-step.

Tenten inwardly cursed herself. Why had she not explained this to Jin-cai last night?

"Sasuke... he..."

Tenten pushed through to the front. "Jin-cai! Let's... come on... No! Naruto! It's okay! I'll explain it to her..."

Naruto held up his hand, stopping her.

"Sasuke was..." he started to say, just to be cut off by Jin-cai.

"Your teammate, I know, your best friend, I know. Someone who defected to Orochimaru, I know." She looked at the incredulous faces around her. "What? I served in the spy force a few years back. Of course I know this stuff."

"Then... why'd you even ask in the first place?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at Jin-cai, who shrugged it off.

"Just to see his reaction. I saw that it wasn't gonna be pretty, so I just cut him off. There's an entirely different question I want to ask him." Jin-cai looked around for Naruto, who appeared right next to her.

"What is it?"

"Just..." Jin-cai stared Naruto straight in the eyes. "Are you gay?"

A silence fell upon the group and everyone turned to look at Naruto. Said shinobi was currently opening and closing his mouth repeatedly, face slowly going red.

Temari broke the silence, throwing her head back and letting out a loud laugh.

Shikamaru snorted, and Tenten started snickering as well while Naruto, Sakura, Gai and Lee stared, aghast, at Jin-cai. Yamato, Neji, and Sai held neutral expressions.

True, Naruto _had _been chasing Sasuke ever since the latter had left, but since he always professed his love for Sakura like Lee did...

"_Wh...what_?" Naruto exclaimed when he found his voice, eyes growing wide.

Jin-cai snorted. "Ha, no denials. Thanks for coming out clean!"

"Oh... oh! This is _rich_!" Temari started wiping tears from her eyes, still shaking with laughter.

Naruto flushed. "I am _not_ gay!"

"Suuure you aren't." Jin-cai leered at him.

"No!" Sakura interjected. "I... I made him promise that he'd bring Sasuke back, no matter what! I... It's my fault!"

Both Sai and Jin-cai's eyes glinted, each taking note to eventually bring this information to their superiors.

"So that's it." Jin-cai said, a satisfactory grin on her face. Temari, Shikamaru, and Tenten were still holding onto each other, laughing. "But not many shinobi go that far for one promise, you know."

"But Naruto does." Neji stated quietly.

An awkward silence followed, the shinobi of the group sending furtive glances at each other whilst still walking.

Yamato and Gai looked at each other, moving slightly away from the group to talk about a previous mission the two had shared. For once, Yamato wasn't minding Gai's loud antics, glad to have another person to talk to for once.

"_So_!" Jin-cai uncomfortably cleared her throat. "What else can we talk about?"

"What's the Land of Heaven like?" Sakura started shooting out questions. "Do you get fair treatment as a kunoichi? How much free time do you have?"

"I wonder... do you have a boyfriend?"

Everyone turned to stare at Sai as he smiled back at them.

Jin-cai laughed.

"As a matter of fact, I don't. I used to, but... let's just say we have different... destinies. My job is to protect the Tian family, and his is to..." She trailed off, and a strange look flitted onto her face for a few moments before she turned to face the group again with a smile.

"_Anyway_! Our country is kind of, like, more traditional than yours, I guess..."

As Jin-cai continued on with her small speech, Tenten looked around at the small group around her. Sakura, Lee, and Gai stared, enraptured, at Jin-cai's lavish descriptions about their home country. Yamato, Shikamaru, Sai, and Neji still held looks of contemplation on their faces as if trying to decide whether to trust the foreign kunoichi or not. Yet Naruto and Temari stood apart from the others, Naruto still looking downtrodden and Temari seeming awkward in a mission team composed of shinobi aligned to a different hidden village than hers.

"So, what do you think?" Tenten asked Neji, peering over at him.

"...Destiny?"

Tenten hit him.

* * *

After a while, the group had scattered, each gone to their own homes to prepare for the mission ahead of them. With everyone else gone, Jin-cai finally came up to Tenten. "Tiantian'r gongzhu."

Tenten looked at her and motioned for her to continue.

Jin-cai looked reluctant to speak. "The... blonde kid. He said his name was _Uzumaki_... Is he? Who I think he may be?" She looked questioningly at Tenten, who sighed.

"Yes... he _is_ a true Uzumaki. But I never told him. He doesn't even know who his parents were."

"Well then," Jin-cai demanded, "Which one is he descended from?"

Tenten closed her eyes briefly before answering her. "He is Uzumaki Naruto, son of Uzumaki Kushina." She looked Jin-cai squarely in the eye. "His father was Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage."

Jin-cai took a sharp intake of breath. "So that means..."

"Yes," Tenten sighed again, "Even if he isn't the one... you know... It doesn't matter. He is _not_ going to be welcomed."

Jin-cai suddenly jabbed Tenten's elbow, and Tenten's eyes snapped up to glare at her. Before she could rebuke her friend, however, Jin-cai made a quick nod towards a figure standing in close proximity to them. Hatake Kakashi.

Tenten stared for a few seconds, then looked back to Jin-cai.

"Oh," she stated rather simply, and looked down at the ground. "Forgot about him."

Jin-cai sighed, exasperated. "Sometimes I wonder if you trained at all." she said, glaring lightly at Tenten, "It's not that easy to, you know, forget about someone right there, someone barely even masking their chakra at all?"

The two of them turned to look directly at Kakashi, who only stared back. It was impossible to tell what exactly what he was thinking, but he blinked, once, twice, then shrugged. It was as if he didn't care, but all three of them knew better.

He then disappeared.

He would be at the Hokage's office soon.

**

* * *

Author's Note:**

Never mind about Chapter 2, this chapter was _much _harder to rewrite. Most of original chapter 3 was mindless, idiotic dialogue that was funny because it made absolutely no sense. So I took the liberty of rewriting most of the dialogue. I had originally intended to take out all the humor from this fiction, but that wouldn't make a story, would it?

I am well aware that those of you that liked Lee's costume change in _Heaven Country_ may be disappointed, yet I have no regrets. I had to take out something. At least Lee's dialogue isn't all in capslock now.

If I had to take out humor, however, I would. I think. I would rather this become a adventure with not much humor than it be idiotic. Not that my writing now is so much better, it's just that it doesn't sound like I'm a mindlessly gushing fangirl anymore.

Oh, I am still a fangirl. Just not a mindless one anymore.

I wonder how many of you remember how old Jin-cai is, though. If not... I'm going to ask you to guess how old she is, so that I know whether I made her seem appropriate for her age or not. Here's a hint. She's older than the Konoha-11.

Oh, and yes, for all those people that reviewed asking for Neji's name in Chinese... It was on a Wikipedia spree that I discovered the kanji for Neji's name, which would be 捩. Now, when read in Japanese it is read _Neji_, but read in Mandarin, it is read _Liè_. Not 'lie' as in 'she lied to me,' but sorta like 'lee-eh' said quickly. See, told you it isn't that funny. I just laughed because it was so radically different, compared to _Tenten_ and _Tian-tian_, for say. :)

Please review! See that button down there? Yeah, it's there for you to press. x)  
Besides, more ideas, faster writing. And I think we all know you want faster updates than this… near one-year hiatus.

...  
Would it kill you if I told you that I had this chapter done four months ago, but hadn't been able to upload it because I had misplaced my hard drive?

I thought so.

Ja Ne,  
~Golden


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